


Construction (1/2)

by songspinner9



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Gen, Team
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-28
Updated: 2011-12-28
Packaged: 2017-10-28 08:55:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/306138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/songspinner9/pseuds/songspinner9
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A very dramatic mural appears on the wall of the refurbished Hub in season 2. Who painted it and why?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Don't own anything related to Torchwood, despite wishful thinking.
> 
> There are quite a few changes between when Jack leaves at the end of season 1 and when he returns to the Hub. Some are physical changes, others shifts in routines and attitudes. I felt like exploring the possibilities of one or two of those...

"You're a bit earlier than usual," Ianto comments as Tohsiko enters the Hub. "At least, early for you. May I help you with all that?"

"Oh, thanks. On my desk, please." She gratefully hands him two of the bags to set down. "I need more hands sometimes."

"Tosh, what is all this?"

Grinning at him, she plunks the heavy box down on her desk. "Paint. And brushes."

One eyebrow up, the young man waits.

"For that wall over there," she says, gesturing up at the expanse above the lefthand catwalk and pushing her hair behind her ears. "Which has been woefully bare since I came here."

"Yes, for decades before we worked here as well, I believe."

"Well, if we're going to be Torchwood on our own for now," Toshiko answers him a little defiantly, "then we should mark it as ours."

"Reasonable. What did you have in mind?" Ianto's voice is full of curiosity and agreement, and he rustles the nearest bag with his fingers, peering in.

"Something like this. See what you think."

He takes the paper she holds out, glancing down at it. His eyes widen in awe. "Woah. This is...amazing work. Can you duplicate this on the wall? Really?"

"Many, many years of art classes were not entirely wasted, Ianto, but I don't often have the time. It'll be something to do when I'm on Rift duty during the lulls."

He sits on the edge of her desk with a slight smile. "Amazing hacker and artist. You continue to surprise me, Tosh. You know all the mythology behind them? Dragons, I mean."

Toshiko nods. "Of course, and between Welsh and Japanese dragons, I think I've got it covered. Symbols of conflict, rebirth, and renewal plus a mischievous sense of humor." She froze for a moment, alternate meanings to her words suddenly hitting her like a blow.

Ianto drops his head into his hands in frustration, his voice gone muffled and low. "He's not even here, and even the damn symbolism manages to make itself sound like him."

"I miss him, too. It's not just his, you know. We've all been made into something new as well." And she presses a quick and understanding kiss to the top of his bowed head and grabs the can of primer. "If you've got time for a break from everything, you can come help me set this up."

As it turns out, some of their shifts ended up overlapping occasionally; on a few of those nights, Ianto finishes his tasks and then stretches out on the sofa to watch her paint, forgetting to go home for an hour or two. He brings her supplies to clean her brushes sometimes, or tea when he figures she needs it (and of course, he's always right). She offers once to give him a section to paint after she's mapped out the cartoon for it, but she he shakes his head emphatically and retreats down into the Archives.

The red dragon takes shape slowly, over a couple of weeks, the careful rhythms of brushstrokes easing her tension. One night, the pteranadon swoops down to see what she is doing. Toshiko laughs softly to see the creature cock her head at the image forming across the wall. "Don't worry," she says affectionately as there is a loud and indignant squawk. "It's not real and you're still in charge here, and no one is taking your chocolate."

She smiles when she sees Owen rush up the stairs one morning and pause on his way to the greenhouse. The doctor runs careful fingers over the gleaming red surface, over detailed shadows of muscle filling in the bricks in newly-dried colours.

"Brilliant..." he mutters to himself.


	2. Construction (2/2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two in one: why did Owen have a new flat in season 2 and when did the species database get put in?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are quite a few changes between when Jack leaves at the end of season 1 and when he returns to the Hub. Some are physical changes, others shifts in routines and attitudes. I felt like exploring the possibilities of one or two of those...

"Cool."

Owen looks up Ianto. "Is that your scientific opinion, then, Doctor Jones?" He tries not to let the sarcasm ooze too much.

"Well, then..." Ianto's eyes do that little movement that means he's retrieving information mentally from somewhere. "That...is a very interesting specimen of plant life from beyond the Rift, and you're lucky that it's dormant just now."

Startled, the doctor backs away from the table, shaking the dirt from his hands. "What?!" His near-heart attack lasts only the three seconds it takes to see that the other man is starting to snicker. "Oh, you're a funny man. That's the big needle at your next physical, Ianto."

Settling down, Ianto leans against the wall and shakes his head. "Yet again, one word - decaf."

"Yeah, yeah. So, do you know what this is or are you just being a thorn in my side today?" Owen grumbles at his colleague and starts the examination again, carefully moving leaves aside to check the core of the thing.

"I think I know where I could find that information. I remember seeing a mention of something like it in the Archives recently. I could check for you, if you'd like."

"That would be useful, yes. Thanks." He pokes at the outer leaves of the little alien plant. "I keep wondering..."

"Hmmm?" Ianto pauses in going back up the steps. He walks back down and sits two steps from the bottom.

"Well, I spend a lot of time dealing with the insides of things that get spat out by the Rift, to see if they're toxic or figuring out how to kill them. But I did start out as a regular doctor, you know. And I just wonder if anyone's bothered recently to look to see if any of these have medicinal qualities. Something useful, aside from looking interesting." The texture of the leaves is oddly changed on the undersides, and Owen scribbles down a note about that on a nearby pad of paper.

Ianto nods at him in agreement. "Yeah, well, Torchwood One had a tendency to focus on that, and not for good reasons."

"True. Without Jack here to tell us about all these things he's familiar with, it takes forever to find, even with my knowledge of what's in the Archives."

"What we need is a database. Mainframe should be able to pull the information easily enough, and I can put in the ones that haven't been digitized yet."

Raising an eyebrow, Owen watches the younger man. "Right. A new species database. It'll definitely help us keep track of things. But on one condition."

"Which is?" Ianto answers warily.

"That you let me take one or two night shifts and you get Tosh to help you set this up.." He wags a finger in Ianto's direction. "Yes, we know that you've been taking more than your share. Did you think that Gwen wouldn't tell me about last week?"

"She needed to be at her mother's..." Ianto starts to protest, but Owen cuts him off.

"Not the point. We can't afford to have anyone that exhausted. Too risky out in the field. which you have been going into on a fairly regular basis since Jack left. Hello, team medic here? I have," he goes on, "sedated you before to keep you from overdoing it, so don't think I won't do it now."

"Fine." If Owen hadn't known Ianto's approximate age, he'd have guessed about nine years old with the sulky expression that appeared on his colleague's face.

"I'll set Tosh on you. And she's much scarier in mother-hen mode than I am."

"Counter-condition, then." Ianto smirks at him.

"Oh? And what would that be?"

"That you let me help you find another flat. I know you're still sleeping on the couch here at the Hub more than you are at home, and I truly understand, but you can't keep doing it and get enough sleep yourself. Neither of us needs more stress right now."

"A new flat." Staring at him, Owen puts down the potted plant.

"One with...fewer...negative associations." Ianto explains softly, and clearly considering his choice of words. "A fresh start, if you will."

Now that the doctor thinks about it, he realizes that his colleague is right. He's been avoiding it and all the memories of Diane for too long. "Not a bad idea. I'll think about it." The admission comes out sounding reluctant, but he doesn't shrug off the hand Ianto briefly rests on his shoulder.

"Go on, then. Out. Counter-conditions..." Muttering to himself about tea-boys who know too much, Owen grabs an empty spray bottle and fills it with water. That little plant looks far too dehydrated...


End file.
